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Germany’s Aachen Center for Integrative Lightweight Production (AZL) will begin manufacturing composite components on a new composite press from Shuler by year’s end.

A collaboration in the field of lightweight production is underway between Germany’s Aachen Center for Integrative Lightweight Production (AZL) and metal and plastic forming equipment supplier Schuler. A new upstroke composite press with a force of 1800 m.t. from Shuler will serve as a joint R&D development platform for the large-scale testing of new dies, lines, components or automation technologies. The tests will be conducted under production conditions and ensure that equipment is ready for start-up.

“We are very much looking forward to a long-term cooperation with Schuler…As a premium partner, Shuler will be able to use our holistic expertise and complete portfolio of services, as well as our international partner network which are constantly expanding,” says AZL’s CEI Dr. Michael Emonts.

Shuler’s CTO Joachim Beyer says this collaboration will help the company enhance its press technology and production processes for modern lightweight materials, noting that AZL’ significant expertise in production technology and materials science will take the company a major step forward. For the further development of its press equipment, Schuler is focusing in particular on the areas of high-speed RTM, wet pressing and the processing of thermoplastics Academic and practical feedback from the AZL network is expected to help Shuler optimize its customer solutions.

For the mass production of lightweight components, such as in automotive and aerospace sectors, the main focus is on increasing productivity: cycle times of 2-3 min for the RTM process , or even less than 1 min for thermoplastic processing, help meet the requirements of OEMs—especially with regard to reducing CO2 emissions and improving their ecological footprint.